JAY-Z Nabs 14th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘4:44′

As expected, JAY-Z’s 4:44 album premiered at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, reports Billboard.

According to Nielsen Music, the collection moved 262,000 equivalent album units last week. Of that sum, 174,000 copies were from traditional album sales. from the 174,000 units, 131,000 were from downloads and 43,000 were CD purchases.

4:44 was initially released on June 30 on Tidal, however, the streaming platform didn’t report data for the album to Nielsen Music for the week ending July 6. On July 7, the album was available on other streaming services (except for Spotify) and retailers.

However, Hov didn't have the biggest debut week of 2017, at least according to Billboard. With his 262,000 copies, JAY secured the fourth-largest sales week of 2017, behind No. 1 debuts of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. (603,000 units), Drake’s More Life (505,000) and Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) (451,000).

4:44’s No. 1 placement extends JAY-Z’s record as the only solo artist with the most No. 1 albums in Billboard history. Among all musical acts, Hov is behind the Beatles who have 19 No. 1 albums in their career. JAY-Z's run of No. 1 albums started in 1998 with Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life, which was also his first chart-topper.